Looking for mountain bike shops around Austin - San Antonio area

Hey guys, i just moved down a couple weeks ago from NJ to Texas. I am staying in Wimberley right now and im looking into getting back into mtn bike riding. I used to do a lot of all mountain and DH riding in NJ but i can see things are different here.

I was curious as to what kind of bike is needed for most trails around here? I am open to any wheel size , but i have been on 26ers all my life. Are there any shops around here that carry any Norco , Devinci , or Pivot bikes ? I was looking to maybe demo some bikes. I have been on Specialized, Knolly, Giant, Trek, and Kona bikes. I am looking to try other brands if possible.

Pivots can be both rented or demo'd at Cycle Progression . They have Pivots, Turners, Intense and some others.

Pink Gorilla is a Motorcycle shop that happens to sell Devinci's. They usually have one or two as demo's. Their website doesn't mention mountain bikes at all, so you are better off calling them and asking what they have in stock and so on.

I don't think anyone here in town sells Norco. Norco's website says there is one, it has since closed. Otherwise the closest place is Santa Fe, NM.

There's loads of techy stuff around. Rocks and square edged drops. Long sustained climbs are rare around here. Short and steep tends to be the rule. 29ers have some major advantages around here. That last bit of oomph to get over that ledge you are climbing is a little easier with wagon wheels. The ability to steamroll stuff at speed is a big help with any sort of technical places here. For good examples, try looking into City Park/Emma Long (this is the techiest of any of the mentionable trails), Brushy Creek (has more flow than City Park, but is designed to punish failure with bloodletting) and parts of the Barton Creek Green Belt. You can easily find a guide to the Green Belt at Bike Mojo/Austin VooDoo

This guy runs a pretty comprehensive list of legal trails in and around Austin. He's on this board and is known for giving guided rides through the Greenbelt.

There's not much in the way of shops or trails in Wimberley. There is a shop on the square in San Marcos that you may want to check out. I stopped in there very briefly the other day, but didn't have much time to poke around. The owner seemed pretty cool though. There are a plethora of shops in Austin if you make the drive. Texas Cycle Werks and ATX Bikes are very far south (closer to Wimbo) and good shops.

I'm completely biased, but Barton Creek Greenbelt is best trail in Austin. The only problem is that it's hard to find the good stuff. As MrMentallo said Bike Mojo is better for finding tour guides, ride calls, and loads of crap.

Bicycle Sport Shop is the biggest shop in town and has a few locations to choose from. They have a big selection but it's all big name brands like Specialized, Trek, Niner, Santa Cruz and so on. They heavily favor 29" wheels because that's what sells in Austin. University Bike Shop sells Yeti and Giant, The Peddler sells Cannondale and Spot, and Buck's sells Giant. There are more good shops out there besides what I mentioned here, but those are the one's that I frequent the most.